RWBY Relationship Week: Now With 99 Percent Less Tumblr!
by EviIPaladin
Summary: A collection of short relationship focused stories done for #rwbyrsweek on Tumblr. No shipping somehow! Mostly humourous. Pairings are: Blake Ozpin, Cardin Yang, Weiss Roman, Ruby Glynda, Ren Jaune, Ren Ruby, and Weiss Glynda. Criticism greatly encouraged and desired.
1. Chapter 1: Midnight Confession

**A/N: Hey all; EviiPaladin from Tumblr here. I'm just porting over my stories that I did up for RWBY Relationship Week (or #rwbyrsweek, as the tag was called on Tumblr). While this was supposed to run the first week of December, I showed up late to the party but determined to still keep up. Criticism is always welcome!**

**Chapter 1: Midnight Confession (Blake & Ozpin)**

Ozpin stood stoically, sipping at his coffee as he admired the soft glow of Beacon Academy's namesake. Leaning on his cane, he felt the cool air wash over his face as he enjoyed the combination of the hot coffee and the chilled breeze. However, he wasn't waiting out here for these sights; he had a meeting with a student. In fact, he heard her approaching now from behind him.

"Blake Belladona," the headmaster said calmly, taking another sip of his coffee. He could tell the young Huntress-in-training was surprised.

"How did you know I was he—" she began, before Ozpin raised his coffee holding hand up to order a swift silence.

"I am the headmaster of the most prestigious academy for training Huntsmen and Huntresses in Vale. I should hope one of these days someone will give me the credit I deserve."

Blake felt a bit nervous but she knew what she had to do. After talking it over with her team, she knew she had to come forward. "Professor Ozpin, I'm…"

"An exceptional young student?" finished the headmaster, as he turned to finally face her, his spectacles gleaming in the evening moonlight and a smile on his lips. "No, you aren't the type to brag. That would be your teammate Miss Schnee, wouldn't it?"

Blake tried her best not to smile at the jibe but couldn't help it. Weiss was a bit arrogant, even if she was doing a much better job of pulling herself off her high horse. "No sir, I mean…"

"A troublemaker?" Once again, Ozpin chuckled. "It appears I'm missing the mark here, as that would describe another of your teammates… Miss Long, yes?"

Blake nodded, although she was feeling somewhat confused. She had never met Ozpin personally before but Ruby said he was scary but nice. That and considering what she had seen from him during the initial ceremonies, she had felt he was more of the serious type.

Ozpin turned back to face the wide open sky and the beacon once more, taking a shallow breath of air. "You seem to want to say what you are, Miss Belladona, but you are forgetting the truly important question. It does not matter what you are but who you are, Miss Belladona. Whether you are the prideful type, the troublemaker, or something else entirely, that is not as important as who you are. Remembering this is a mark of a superb Huntress."

Blake watched the headmaster as he calmly drank his coffee, before turning her own eyes to look at the beacon. Raising her hand up to her bow, she stopped and turned to begin to leave before stopping just before the door. "Thank you, Professor Ozpin."

The headmaster sighed as he looked up at the shattered moon. "It was my pleasure to speak with you, Miss Belladona." As he heard Blake leave, the headmaster sighed again, but this time in disappointment. During the talk he had finished off the last of his coffee and Glenda would undoubtedly chew him out if he were to brew some this late at night.

"You need a refill?" asked Blake, catching the headmaster off-guard. The only response he had was to laugh. It was a quiet one but one that was purely genuine.

"You are a life saver, Miss Belladona."


	2. Chapter 2: I Want to Be Better!

**Chapter 2: I Want to Be Better! (Cardin + Yang)**

Yang laughed. Cardin winced. He was just glad that he managed to get her alone for this. Really, he was mostly glad that he wasn't being put on a stretcher right now. But despite the girl's laughter he pushed forward.

"I'm serious!" exclaimed the barrel-chested teen, doing his best not to have his face adopt its natural angry and/or smug appearance. "I wouldn't have bothered asking if I wasn't."

Yang had to pull herself together. While she was laughing, it wasn't from any real humour but rather a sense of delicious schadenfreude. "You can't be actually serious."

Cardin was doing his best to not get angry but this was a new concept for him. "I am and you have to do it. You owe—"

Yang grabbed Team CRDL's leader by the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. All play and smiles were gone from her face and Cardin swore he saw her eyes turn red but that had to have been his imagination. "I owe you nothing! You attacked my friends, almost got Jaune killed, and are a discriminating piece of sh—"

"Not me!" Cardin cried, shaking his head and waving his arms in a cutting motion. "You owe your team and friends. I also owe them in a way." The former bully looked genuinely sad so Yang dropped him; even if he was repentant it was still kinda funny to see him fall on his ass.

"What are you saying, Cardin? That I should help train you to beat up unsuspecting fanii? Fanuses?" Yang seemed momentarily distracted by the case of uncertain grammar.

"That's not it at all…" Cardin looked to the side, at his feet, everything but in Yang's eyes. "I want to become strong so… I don't have to pretend."

This piqued Yang's attention. "I repeat, what are you saying, Cardin?"

Cardin clenched his fist and grit his teeth. "I don't want to be the bully but… I want to be important. I really want to help. But I'm not strong enough to help without getting in the way. So I started acting tougher than I was and people fell for it. I didn't have to get stronger; I just had to be mean. People respected me. They feared me. I was important."

"You were a jerk, that's what you were," said Yang, pointing an accusatory finger at the armoured Huntsman-in-training.

"I was but I don't want to be one anymore," Cardin fought to stop the tears from starting; he would get mocked enough as it was, he had no intention of allowing Yang to see him cry. "I want to be strong so I can help and protect other people. I want to…"

Yang punched him in the gut. Cardin doubled over and fell to the ground.

"What… Was that… For…?" he managed to wheeze before he saw Yang extending the same hand in an attempt to help him up.

"You're gonna have to be tougher than that if you want to train with me." The Huntress-in-training looked expectantly at the boy she just knocked down. "C'mon get up." Cardin took the outstretched hand and got to his feet, still somewhat winded. Yang walked back to give him some space to stand. The room would be empty for another hour or so and the rest of Team RWBY were off studying. The blonde girl smirked. At the very least, she would get to kick the everloving crap out of Cardin for a while.

An hour later and the two emerged from the room; Cardin covered in bruises from head to toe while Yang was only a little sweaty. Cardin was unsure of whether or not he regretted this decision when his sparring partner looked him in the eye. "You aren't hopeless but you aren't all too great either. We're going to need to beat you into shape, ya hear? Same time, same place, tomorrow."

As Yang left a bewildered Cardin in her dust to meet up with her team, she made one last parting remark. "Oh and if I hear anything about you or your cronies picking on anyone, the gloves will go on. Understood?"

Cardin's vigorous nod made the blonde laugh as she ran off. Clenching his fist once more, the teen decided he made the right choice and left to return to his team to put some new rules into place. Filled with a new determination, the former bully was glad to move on. After getting the rest of his team to lay off the discrimination, he would apologize to Velvet. He blushed at the thought of it. He wondered if maybe Yang could give him tips on how to ask her out…


	3. Chapter 3: Glaciem

**Chapter 3: Glaciem (Weiss + Roman ft. Ashley Match the OC OG shopkeeper)**

Weiss was losing her temper with the shopkeeper as they went about negotiating the cost of the shipment. "If you think you'll swindle me out of the worth of this Dust, you will be sorry, you little dupe!"

The shopkeeper shook her head. "There is no way I am agreeing to these prices. I can barely turn a profit as it is and all my clientele are threatening to take their business elsewhere. I beg of you, Miss Schnee, have some compassion."

The heiress's face tightened as she glared at the young shopkeep. Part of Weiss suspected her of trying to con her because the Dust seller was a young woman instead of the usual men sent by her father. But another part of her was thinking of how she had begun to grow along her teammates.

Weiss had been asked by her father directly to handle this shipment. She had been more than happy to accept the responsibility. Being entrusted to a major delivery meant that her father was trusting her more and more, a spot of pride for the Huntress-in-training.

She thought back on what her father would tell her when she was younger, as she weighed the current situation. _We are better than most, Weiss. As such, we must act better than most. Do you understand?_ That talk had weighed on Weiss her entire life and now saw it differently than she had before. She had always thought that maybe that meant she was to look down on others but now she wondered if he meant that she should be kinder than others…

"You've caught me on a good day, Miss Match. You get a 20% discount on this order but nothing more."

Ashley Match actually began to cry as she grabbed Weiss's hand. "Thank you so much, Miss Schnee! I won't forget this!" Weiss had to blink in surprise of the admiration before angrily withdrawing her hand.

"Don't expect this treatment often, Miss Match. As I said, I'm in a good mood. Can we finish this transaction before I realize what a mistake this is?" She motioned for some of the men carrying the heavily briefcases filled with Dust to move forward as Ashley went to go grab the Lien required for the purchase of the Dust.

Weiss felt a smile tug at her lips as she leaned against the display. Maybe this whole being nice thing wasn't as hard as she thought it was. She wondered if her father would be proud of her. These thoughts of self-reflection were cut short as the front windows shattered under a hail of gunfire.

"Get down!" cried one of the suitcase carriers, tackling Weiss to the ground to protect her, while all she could do was gasp in surprise. However, a stray shot caught the bodyguard in his leg as he cried out in pain.

Everything seemed like a blur to Weiss as a bunch of men walked into the shop, hefting their weaponry and bearing mocking grins. Their masks covered their eyes and their white armour was decorated with the bright red insignia of a bloody wolf. Weiss snarled as she realized who they were and what was going on. _The White Fang are robbing this store_.

Weiss wasted no time for she knew that action needed to be done immediately. The bodyguards who had evaded serious injury processed the same thought as they too leapt into action. Swinging her rapier fiercely, the heiress charged into battle, her voice so shrill she couldn't hear it. The White Fang were caught off-guard, having expected this to be a routine robbery. Between the lead from the bodyguards' firearms and the ice cold steel of Myrtenaster, they were pushed out of the shop in a matter of seconds. Weiss smiled viciously as she motioned for her ensemble to drive them out, when she saw the airship descend.

The members of the White Fang froze, caught between their boss with backup and a Huntress with bodyguards, knowing that this would only spell trouble. The door slowly opened and, amongst a dozen or so White Fang members, a single man stood out with his bright orange hair and crisp white overcoat. His single visible eye shone viciously as he puffed on his cigar and pointed his cane at Weiss. "What is it with little girls and constantly beating up these useless animals I hired?"

Weiss recognized the man as Roman Torchwick, an elusive criminal known to be targeting Dust stores. She glared at him with all the righteous indignation she could muster. Ruby had told her about this scumbag and Blake had fought him right before they found her. This man was nothing but deep trouble. "I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I will not allow a scallywag like you to intimidate me, my clientele, or my family's trade!"

Roman laughed, his spare hand wiping his eye for tears. "Well excuuuuuuse me, Princess. Though I'm afraid you insinuation of my scallywagness cannot be allowed to go unpunished." Turning to the men aboard the ship, he gave a piercing glare. "Get. Her."

The White Fang members charged, waving their guns and swords around like madmen as Weiss and her bodyguards leapt into motion. Weiss spun forward, sped onwards by her glyphs as she disarmed two White Fang soldiers in a flurry of strikes while her bodyguards attempted to hold their own but were being overwhelmed by greater numbers. The Schnee heiress quickly found herself surrounded on all sides. Not that she was worried as in a calculated and elegant web of steel and runes, she knocked all her attackers down and back before facing Roman once more.

The orange haired criminal sighed and shook his head. "I really need to get decent henchmen. Well, you know what they say; never send an animal to do a man's job." Dropping his cigar from his mouth, he crushed it under his cane before aiming it at Weiss. "I was going to be a gentleman and simply kidnap you to ransom you off to your father but you are far too much a pest to be kept in cage. And as you can see, I'm already surrounded by vermin as is so I think I will simply have to settle for…" He paused for a moment and gave her a look of pure hatred and disgust. "…Killing you."

As Weiss spun Myrtenaster's Dust chamber, she grinned. "If you couldn't beat Ruby or Blake, there's no way you'll beat me, Roman. I'm not letting my father down." Swinging her rapier in a circle, the air froze before her and Roman saw his own face reflected back at him. It almost seemed nervous.

"Time for beddy-bye, Princess!" The end of his cane swung upwards to form the scope of his weapon as he fired off two blazing hot shots of pure Dust. The icy shield absorbed the first one but shattered under the stress of the second round, sending Weiss sprawling back, her combat skirt cushioning her stumble.

The heiress quickly stood back up and leered at the criminal but Roman made a gesture to stop as he picked up a cell phone. Angry whispers were exchanged as Weiss put her hands on her hips and began tapping her foot. He snarled as he hung it up but was quickly back to all his false smiles. "I've changed my mind about you, Princess. As it is, I've wasted too much of my time here so I must be off. Places to go, Dust to steal, you know how it is." As the aircraft once more took to the skies, Weiss considered pursuing but saw all the bodies laying on the ground and settled for one last venomous glare at Roman. "See you on the flip side, Princess! Ahahahahaha!"

Weiss watched the airship fly off into the night as she heard someone approach from behind. Turning around, she saw Ashley Match standing in the doorway of _Ashes to Dust_ with wide eyes scanning the scene. "Are you alright?" inquired Weiss, clapping to get the storekeeper's attention.

"Uhh… Yeah… Just a little… Uhh… Shaken up…"

Weiss snapped her fingers and looked the storekeeper in the eye. "Good, because I'll be taking that payment now. All the Dust is still here so I am expecting that our agreement is still in order, Miss Match."

Ashley could only stand dumbfounded as Weiss left with her bodyguards limping after her, suitcase of money in hand. The sound of sirens were approaching but none of the White Fang members seemed to be in a position to be going anywhere soon. _What a strange girl_, thought Ashley, as she silently hung up the 'Sorry, We're Closed' sign on the door.


	4. Chapter 4: What's It Do?

**Chapter 4: What's It Do? (Ruby + Glynda)**

Glynda wasn't sure why that young girl kept stalking her but she intended to find out today. As she walked through the halls of Beacon, the student wrapped in red would sneak down other halls, while keeping an eye on Glynda. The Beacon staffer sighed and entered into a training room, but quickly hid against the wall. Sure enough, Ruby poked her little head through the door and found it looking at a rather unamused witch.

"Just what on Remnant are you following me around for, Miss Rose?" she asked, her green eyes imprinting themselves on Ruby's soul as the young girl looked away and fidgeted with her fingers. Tapping her fingers against her Scroll for a moment, Glynda grew annoyed with the silence. "I asked you a question, Miss Rose. I am expecting an answer."

Ruby jumped a little before going back to fidgeting. "I-I just wanted to say thank you." The silver eyes were examining a particularly interesting speck of dust on her big army boots while Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"Thank me for what, Miss Rose? Please complete your thought." The blonde haired witch wondered if she might be acting a little harshly to her student but felt the need to get the full story out of her before she ran off.

"For… For the day I met you and Professor Ozpin, ma'am," replied the timid Ruby, still fiddling with her hands and looking at the ground. Glynda sighed and snapped her riding crop against her own leg, causing Ruby to jump up from the sudden noise.

"You've been following me for the last week because you wanted to thank me for helping you against Roman Torchwick and his cronies?" Glynda could tell that there was another reason; Ruby wouldn't have gone through all this secrecy for something as sociable as a thank you.

"Well… I was wondering…" Ruby scuffed her boots on the ground before seeming to regain confidence and look her professor in the eyes. "How does your weapon work?" The girl was clearly far more comfortable now that she had asked her question and switch the topic to weaponry.

Now Glynda was on the off-foot. She had never really had a student ask a question like this before so paused to give it some thought. "Well, it's rather simple, really. My riding crop serves as a focus for my Dust usage and glyphs."

Ruby took a deep breath and nodded vigorously, her red hair bouncing along with it. "Oh! So like Weiss's rapier, right?" She stopped and looked at it closely. "But this doesn't have a Dust chamber… Does it transform like into an RPG or a machine gun and go all pew pew pew BOOM?" Ruby made a flurry of motions, mimicking the weapons she described.

The Huntress merely raised a solitary eyebrow at the rather hyperactive display before her. "Does it look like it is capable of transforming, Miss Rose?"

Ruby gave the crop one last good look before sighing and giving a little kick with her left foot. "I guess not…" she said, dejected.

Glynda gave a muted chuckle at her student's reaction. "Miss Rose, as much as I am enjoying our little chat, I must be off. However, if you ever wish to talk to me about your studies or even your admittedly odd obsession with weaponry, you're free to talk to me in my office. Maybe I'll even be able to find a few pictures of my school days. Quite a few of my former classmates made… Interesting weapon choices."

Ruby's formerly crest-fallen expression flipped and beamed up at her professor. "Oh when can I see them?"

Glynda's smile turned a bit stern as she gazed deep into Ruby's silver eyes. "Maybe after you finish and hand in that assignment I gave last class, Miss Rose."

The rosy blush of excitement drained from Ruby's face as she realized that she had not yet, in fact, handed in said assignment. Nervously chuckling, she backed up closer to the door. "Well, you see, I uhh… Gottagobye!" And with a flash of rose petals, the young Huntress-in-training was gone, leaving Glynda only to shake her head with a chuckle and a sigh.


	5. Chapter 5: Learning a Secret

**Chapter 5: Learning a Secret (Jaune + Ren)**

Ren sighed as he watched his team leader sleep through yet another class. The black haired boy worried about Jaune sometimes as he could admit the classes weren't exactly riveting, they never felt boring enough to completely pass out. Luckily, Professor Port was far interested in discussing his illustrious past than in paying attention to his students, so Jaune would be safe from lectures and detention. This time. As the bell chimed to indicate the end of class, the rotund professor had managed to just finish his story.

"…so always remember to carry a spare 15 feet of rope and a stick of butter with you if you plan on going camping; Beowulves can be big rapscallions but will be no match for you if you keep my advice in mind! Class dismissed!"

Lie Ren looked over to his right and saw that Pyrrha was eyeing Jaune nervously. The dual gun wielder had never been the best at social cues but could tell why Pyrrha would be worried about the blond haired leader. Standing up, Ren prodded Jaune awake, only to be a bit frustrated to see that Jaune had been drooling in his sleep.

"Is it over…?" the armoured boy asked with a whisper, still a bit dazed from just waking up.

"Looks like it," replied Ren, helping Jaune to his feet. "But it won't be if Professor Port catches you napping again."

Jaune chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head as he looked away from Ren's judgmental magenta eyes. "Nothing to worry about, Ren. Your leader's got this under control."

Lie Ren doubted this immensely; aside from his leader skills, Jaune never seemed to be good at much. The green wearing Huntsman-in-training wasn't offended by this or anything but he felt like he was missing out on a few important details. This feeling had reach a peak when Jaune and Pyrrha had stopped talking to each other for a while. While that whole situation had been solved, Ren still wanted to know what happened but knew better than to ask outright.

That night, Lie Ren made sure to stay awake. He was no doctor, but if he had to guess, he'd say that Jaune wasn't getting enough sleep. When they were in elementary school, Nora had suffered from a similar issue in that she couldn't turn her energy down until it was empty. He had taught her some breathing techniques he learned from his uncle and it helped her get some sleep. Which ended up just making her even crazier during the day. Ren had to stifle a chuckle as he reflected on his youth and he admired the silence of the room. But he knew all too well that a silence this quiet wasn't right…

Confirming his suspicions, he heard Jaune rise from his bed and open the door. Ren remained completely still, to give him some space to follow his leader when he heard another person get up. Knowing Nora would be completely asleep, Ren concluded that Pyrrha was getting up too. _Is she following him as well?_ The green haired boy didn't agree with that initial thought, as she would be careful enough to wait a little longer as he had. He heard the door to the dorm room close and knew that Pyrrha had left it.

Silently hopping out of his bed, Ren snuck up to the wall closest to the hallway and pressed his ear against it to try and see if he could hear anything. He most certainly did.

"Jaune, we can't keep doing this; its interfering with your studies."

"But Pyrrha, I'm fine. I promise."

"No, you listen, Jaune Arc; I can't keep this up if you aren't keeping up with your studies."

Lie Ren's face turned beet red. He wasn't sure but if they were talking about what he thought they were talking about…

"Pyrrha, I need the practice. I need to get better or all of Team RWBY's gonna laugh at me."

"Well, your form does need some work. Your thrusts lack force, as well."

Lie Ren couldn't take it; this talk was indecent! Running up to the door, he almost flung it open but found himself stopping and listening some more.

"That and my stamina are nothing to write home about…"

"Jaune, you're trying. And really, that's the most important thing."

"But Pyrrha, I'm still so clumsy and awkward!"

"Listen, if you do well on our next class project, I'll reward you with more… Training."

As Jaune expressed his joy and thanks, Lie Ren shuffled off to bed, his face burning. _There's no way…_ he kept thinking to himself, as he fell into a troubled sleep.

The next morning, Jaune was all smiles as breakfast was made. Nora was bubbly but that was to be expected and Pyrrha had a glint in her eye. Lie Ren shuddered as he recalled the hallway conversation the night before. He was debating on telling Nora but she had no sense of subtlety and would probably immediately begin teasing the two.

As Ren finished the last batch of pancakes, the team leader approached him with a big grin. "Say Ren, I need your help with something…"

Lie Ren panicked and swung the pan around with the pancakes. "S-Sorry, busy, Jaune…" He could feel his face reddening as he tried to avoid the eyes of the two lovebirds.

As he rapidly dished out the pancakes, Jaune looked at him, a little confused. "Something wrong, Ren? You're looking pretty flushed…"

Nora, afraid something might have happened to her closest friend, immediately stops eating her pile of pancakes and looks Lie Ren deep in his eyes, tilting his head with her hand as if there would be any sort of visible connection to his currently red state. "Did we make a secret signal that involves you imitating a tomato? I don't think we did because I would've remembered that. Is this your way of saying we're out of…" Nora gasped, a sudden realization hitting her. "ARE WE OUT OF SYRUP?!"

"N-No, Nora," Lie Ren stammered, fetching the syrup from the fridge. "It's just that I-I need to finish that project for Professor Port." Immediately after saying this, Ren was filled with a deep regret as the memories of last night's conversation returned.

"Speaking of," began Jaune, trying to sound like some sort of salesman as he sat down next to his green-wearing teammate. "I was wondering if you wanted to work on it with me, Ren. Y'know, some bonding time with your good friend Jaune. Eh? Ehhhhh?" The blond playfully nudged Lie Ren with his elbow as his target began to just rest his face in his hands.

_What have I gotten into…?_ "Sure, Jaune," was the muttered reply. Nora and Pyrrha exchanged looks but Nora just smiled and shrugged as she poured copious amounts of syrup over her unfathomably large stack of pancakes.

In the library, Lie Ren was having difficulties teaching Jaune about the intricacies of Boarbatusk anatomy for Professor Port's assignment. While he had a certain level of patience, Ren was by no means Buddha and had a breaking point. This was reached when he noticed Team RWBY were sitting at a distant table and Jaune kept getting distracted and started waving at them. To illustrate his annoyance, Ren picked up the book they were using (_Boarbatusk Anatomy and History_ by Chris P. Baekin) and slammed it into Jaune's face.

"What was that for, man?!" exclaimed Jaune, as he cupped his now-bleeding nose.

Lie Ren glared at him. "Listen, Jaune. I'm going to help you but only on two conditions," he whispered, not sure who else knew about Jaune and Pyrrha's so-called 'practices'. "One, you are going to focus on this work. And two, you tell me why you need all this help. If you simply concentrated in class…"

Ren stopped when he looked at Jaune's eyes. They weren't filled with anger from the blow or his usual false self-confidence. There was a deep embarrassment in them and the black haired boy immediately felt bad for his outburst.

"I'm… Sorry, Jaune. Are you alri—"

Jaune waved him off. "No, I'm sorry, Ren. I should've told you and Nora this. You see, me and Pyrrha…"

Lie Ren leapt to his feet, pointing at the blond boy, his finger shaking. "I knew it!" he yelled before immediately being 'shushed!' by the rest of the library. Whispering, he continued. "Don't you think that might damage the team dynamic?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? How would Pyrrha and I staying up late to train on the rooftop damage the team dynamic?"

Ren just stared for a moment. A moment turned into a minute and Jaune began to worry as his teammate just kept staring. "Ren, are you alright?"

"The answer is four eyes," muttered Ren before he picked up his stuff and silently left the library.

_I'm a pervert… _was the foremost thought on the gun-toting Huntsman-in-training's mind as he slowly shambled off to go reflect on this new development.


	6. Chapter 6: Tea Time!

**Chapter 6: Tea Time! (Ruby + Ren)**

Ruby Rose was uncharacteristically upset as she slowly walked up the stairs towards her team's dorm room. Only a short while earlier, her and Weiss had been practicing but Ruby hadn't been feeling well and kept making mistakes. Luckily, neither of the two were really hurt. Physically, that is. The Schnee heiress had quickly grown snappy with her leader, which didn't help Ruby's weapon play. The session was cut short, much to both girls' relief. Weiss had yelled at Ruby a bit longer then departed to go run an errand for her father and his company.

As Ruby approached the dorm room, she sighed, sad that she was both sick and not being all too useful. She sneezed and reached for her scroll to bypass the locked door. The hooded girl froze in a moment of panic and realization; her scroll wasn't there. Freaking out a little, Ruby found herself throwing a fit and suffering from one as she felt like she almost hacked up a lung. She knew no one was in the room to let her in, as Blake was studying and Yang said she had some sparring practice to attend to. While she felt like she wanted to die, she settled for simply crashing to floor instead, moaning and sneezing simultaneously. "I'm a goner…"

"Are you okay?"

Ruby immediately looked up to see Lie Ren standing in the doorway of the Team JNPR dorm, a mug of hot tea in one hand and a look of complete confusion on his face. Sneezing, Ruby shook her head. "Not great," she mumbled, her congested nose making her voice sound a little warped. However, her mind focused through the sickness to pick up another major detail about Ren's current outfit: a pair of pink fluffy slippers with the faces of baby bunnies. "Nice slippers though."

Ren's confusion was immediately replaced with bright red embarrassment. "Wh-what are you talking about, Ruby?" he asked, attempting to kick them off into his team's dorm. After successfully distancing himself from the adorable footwear, he looked back at Ruby. Immediately recognizing the symptoms of a bad fever, he motioned with his spare arm to the room. "I'll make you some herbal tea if you swear to never mention the slippers to anyone ever."

Ruby thought about it for a second before smiling, coughing, and nodding. Pushing herself to her feet, she stumbled into the room after the black-haired boy. Her legs felt all noodle-like, making her even more awkward than usual but she managed to co-ordinate her collapse onto a couch in the main living area while Ren entered the kitchen to begin boiling the water.

There was a momentary silence before the groggy girl spoke up. "You shouldn't be embarrassed by them."

Although near to the boiling kettle, Ren still heard and was slightly surprised. "Why?"

"They're kinda adorable. But in a dorky way…" Ruby rolled a bit on the couch until she could see Ren working in the kitchen. "They're adorkable."

Ren shrugged, as he opened the cupboards to procure his tea leaves. "A trait I wouldn't associate myself with, to be honest," he said, crushing the leaves with care and practice.

Ruby sneezed, rolling again on the couch to keep moving and aiming for the optimally comfortable position. "I guess. I mean, that's something I'd expect from Jaune or maybe Nora…"

Ren seemed to tense at the mention of his childhood friend's name but Ruby supposed it might just be her sickness. The green-wearing boy was very delicately pouring the water from the kettle into the cup, his technique beautiful. "Say," began Ruby, finally noticing how surprisingly calm the room was. "Where is everyone?"

Ren brought the steaming tea cup and plate over to his feverish classmate and placed them softly on the table in front of her. "Out training Jaune. Do you need a blanket?"

Ruby wafted the heat from the tea into her face, hoping it would bring some magical cleanse. While it failed to deliver on that particular wish, it did smell nice. Hearing his question, she nodded as she began to warm her hands off the rising steam.

As Ren went off to fetch the blanket, Ruby felt a little lonely. "Why didn't you go as well?" she called after her caretaker, eyeing the cup and hoping for it to cool a little so she could drink some. Ren reappeared, a big dark green comforter in tow. He tucked her in and placed a wet towel on her forehead as well.

"I feel like I've been coming down with a bit of a cold myself," he stated calmly, going back to his own tea cup. "I didn't want to put the extra stress on my body to speed up the recovery." Taking a small sip, he turned back to his patient. "Which makes me wonder what you were doing out with such a nasty fever."

"Weiss wanted to practice and had booked the training room and everything," mumbled Ruby in a dejected tone, finally picking up her own cup. "I just didn't want to disappoint her but I ended up doing that anyways…"

Ren walked over and sat in the chair opposite Ruby, still sipping his tea. "Just tell her you're too sick; if she's a good teammate she'll understand."

"Y'know what, Ren?"

"What?"

"You should talk to us more," Ruby smiled sheepishly, preparing to take her first sip of tea. "You're a nice guy." Taking a brief sip of the tea, Ruby's taste buds screamed out in unison and were immediately silenced. The darkened water immediately evacuated the girl's mouth and into her poor nurse's face.

"REN, THIS IS GROSS! IT TASTES LIKE FEET!" Ruby took a tissue and began to furiously wipe her tongue, attempting to dislodge the taste.

Ren stifled as laugh as he used a tissue to wipe the tea off his face. "Not much of a tea drinker, are you?"

"NOT WITHOUT AT LEAST FIVE SUGARS!" Ren couldn't contain his laughter this time.


	7. Chapter 7: Losing Sleep

**Day 7: Losing Sleep (Weiss + Glynda)**

"Miss Schnee!"

The white-haired heiress bolted upright as her professor shot a venomous glare at her. Shrinking back into her seat, Weiss sighed and stifled a yawn. Ruby's coughing fit had kept her up all night and if her teammates' appearances could be believed, none of them slept either. Ruby, of course, was in her room sick although she promised to practice with Weiss later. Although she would never admit it, Weiss was worried about her teammate as she had never seen someone cough so much or sneeze so loud.

"Miss Schnee, I asked you a question. I'm still awaiting your answer."

Weiss once more returned to the classroom she was seated in and was face-to-face with a rather annoyed Glynda Goodwitch. "Uhh…"

Pushing up her glasses so that a scary sheen crossed them, Glynda slammed her riding crop down right next to her flustered student. "The question was 'What is Dust's origin', Miss Schnee. A question I fully expect you to be capable of answering. Apparently my expectations were set too high."

The heiress groaned as the bell rang for the end of class. Professor Goodwitch didn't even need to say that she had detention; it was a given at this point. Blake and Yang patted her on the shoulder on their way out, promising they'd wait outside for her. Weiss also swore she caught Pyrrha watching her sorrowfully from the back of the class as she too filed out.

After the last student left the room, Glynda wasted no time. "Miss Schnee, I understand you may find this class something of a joke due to your heritage." The blond haired teacher gave her an examination with her harsh emerald eyes, before consulting her scroll. "However, your participation in this class has been irregular at best and your report on the operation of mining Dust was…" Those bespectacled eyes flared once again as Weiss audibly gulped. "Disappointing to say the least. And sleeping in class? I expect that from the likes of Miss Rose and Mister Arc, but you are so capable and are wasting it."

Weiss stood up, not content with simply being insulted by a teacher in a course where she should have no trouble with. "Professor Goodwitch, Ruby's been sick for almost a week and kept us all up last night with her coughing and snee—"

"'We', Miss Schnee? If by chance you are referring to your fellow teammates, neither of them fell asleep in class. Quite impressive for Miss Xiao Long, it must be said."

"That's not fair!" declared the white-eyed girl, locking eyes with her professor. "You're letting some people slack off but not others! That's discrimination!"

"Oh?" said Glynda, raising an eyebrow. "If you think that, I'm afraid you are terribly mistaken, Miss Schnee. I'm pushing you because I know this is a subject you understand. Dust has been important to your life more than anyone else and will likely continue to do so for quite some time." Stepping away from her student, Professor Goodwitch sat down at her desk, adjusting a few wayward papers. "You can do far better, Miss Schnee. Rather than put in all that excessive time at the battle range to try and surpass Miss Rose, you should be focusing on this class instead of coasting through it."

Weiss's eyes widened and quickly narrowed at her teacher's words. "How did you know about that?!"

"Knowing your surroundings is an invaluable skill, Miss Schnee," spoke Glynda as she turned on the projector to show images of Weiss practicing with Blake, Nora, and Ren. Each image had a date and time attached, showing quite a few instances of the Schnee heiress shrugging off doing her studying for the class to spar with her classmates. She did seem to be showing an improvement which made Weiss smile a little. "Maybe you'll notice the cameras next time." The smile disappeared from her face.

As the moment of silence stretched, Glynda smiled to herself, content with the turmoil she put Weiss through. "Alright, detention has now ended, Miss Schnee. I will expect a 3 page paper on how Dust is formed and its original discovery on my desk next week. In the meantime," Professor Goodwitch's smile became noticeable to Weiss. "Try and get some rest outside my classes. I have a spare bed in my office should you need to evade loud and disruptive teammates."

As Weiss left the classroom, Blake and Yang were talking outside and quickly waved their teammate down. Yang had to go do some sparring with her 'apprentice', whoever that was. Something about the way she said it made Weiss apprehensive but she let the blond run off to have her fun. Probably some poor sap she convinced to be her punching bag. Blake was going to library because the dorm was creeping her out with sickly Ruby laying about. Weiss sighed and went to go check up on their fearless leader, looking forward to getting some proper sleep tonight in a quiet room. But first, Ruby would deliver on her promise to practice with Weiss; she would have to see that the heiress truly was her best teammate.


End file.
